​Dear family in Christ,It has been a while since I last wrote to you about what God has been doing here in Guatemala. I don’t even know where to start and this update is going to be a long one. So grab some popcorn and coffee and enjoy. I’m still helping at Casa Shalom with the babies and their caregivers. I’m also translating for medical teams, babysitting, and working with Drew and Cindy’s ministry.

About a year ago, I started going to Casa Shalom to form relationships with the children and the staff. For a few months, I was really stressed out and sad since the caregivers thought my purpose was to help them with the cleaning, rather than interacting with the children and with them to form relationships and show the importance of bonding. After talking with Drew and Cindy, we decided that I would be an assistant to the psychologists to affirm that my goal was to help the caregivers and interact with the children. I was nervous about starting that type of position. But the psychologists, Drew, Cindy, and I discussed a plan on how to help at Casa Shalom and decided that the baby house was the one that needed the most transformation. We started doing stimulation activities and changing the program every 2 weeks. Since the psychologists are unable to oversee this every day, I am the one in charge of this plan and assisting the caregivers in the stimulation program.

Through this, God has really been working in this house. What seemed impossible became possible. We want the caregivers to bond with the children, realizing the importance that this job is not just a job, but they can change those babies’ lives and their own lives. It’s been amazing to witness the transformation in that house. The caregivers are interacting well with the babies, smiling, and willing to learn new ideas to help with the bonding with the children and relationships between us as well. The psychologists, caregivers, and I have meetings once a week with child development teachings. I have been learning a lot from those meetings and it has been going really well. I love the caregivers; we’re encouraging each other every day, and the children are much happier. Our dream is that these children will heal from their past, that the caregivers will be the mother that these children need right now and can have a strong bond with them. I have not been there for the past 2 weeks because of other commitments. During that time, I was getting messages from them saying that they were missing me and wondering how everything was going. I can tell that we have a special connection and need each other.

From helping at Casa Shalom, I am getting to know the older children there as well and it’s been a really special experience. There are a lot of children that struggle with their past and I can relate to some of their experiences. A few months ago, I was spending time with some boys about 6-9 years old. I noticed one of the boys cutting himself with glass. I asked him what he was doing and he said, “Nothing.” I just sat there and prayed for this boy and told him that I wasn’t going to leave until he gave me the piece of glass. He said he wasn’t going to give it to me. I continued to pray for him and we sat together, watching the game. I sat with him for about 30 minutes and then he handed the glass to me. I asked if that was the only piece and he said yes. But I saw he had more. So I said that he needed to give them all to me. I saw he had tears in his eyes and I felt like God was telling me to share my testimony with him. So I told him that I grew up in a children’s home. His face lit up and he said, “Really!?” and then he seemed interested. So I told him my parents didn’t take good care of me. I was physically abused and neglected. When I started telling him this, he seemed shocked. Suddenly, he started telling me that he was sad and he missed his mother. But since his mother was similar to mine, he wasn’t allowed to be with her. So he would cut his arm when he felt sad. I told him that there was still hope, to give his love to Jesus, and that God has a marvelous plan for him, even if he doesn’t feel like He does right now. His attitude changed and he gave all the pieces of glass to me. He asked if I was going to continue to come to Casa Shalom and I told him yes. A few days later, he came running up to me, happy and smiling, as I was walking up to the baby house. He said, “Oh! You’re the girl who helped me and told me your story.” That really touched my heart. God knew that someday I was going to be a part of children’s lives and even in the bad, He can use it for His glory to help other children going through similar experiences.

Working with medical teams has been awesome too. God has been doing many miracles and prayer is very powerful. A few months ago, I helped with a medical team from South Carolina for 5 days, translating for them. We took turns translating for the medical team and for praying with the patients in a separate room. It was amazing to feel the Holy Spirit. One of the patients was a 9 year old girl who was being sexually abused by a worker for about year. But since she was worried that her mother wouldn’t believe her, she never told her mother what had happened. We called a social worker, psychologist, and a doctor to arrange appointments for her and then called her mother to inform her of what was going on. But, the mother did not seem convinced.

3 weeks ago, I translated for another medical team and really had a great time with this team. I had translated for this team last year as well. We went close to the Mexican border and it took us about 12 hours to get there. While we were driving, people kept asking how much longer and it became the joke that it was 3 more hours. We went to different villages every day up in the mountains with the medical team, a construction crew, and an eye doctor. All the translators knew each other and it felt like a family reunion. We had one patient who became blinded suddenly 4 years ago. They came with hope that she would regain her sight. But there was nothing we could do other than pray with her. The mother was crying and I talked with her, telling her that God can always do miracles. In this trip, I feel like God really worked on healing our team and bringing us together as a family. I laughed so much and shared my testimony with them. We helped around 500 people that week. We had so many funny moments as a team. There was a rooster outside of our bedroom, who crowed all night long. The joke for the rest of the week was that we’re going to catch him and grill him. Angel, another translator who is my brother from the children’s home I grew up in, came to me and asked if we were going home soon. I told him that we were going to be there for the whole week. He said, “What!? I thought we were only here for 3 days. I’m going to have to wear my underwear inside out.”

After that week, we went to Belize for a missionary retreat. A couple, their daughter, my friend and secretary Donna, and I did activities and games with 14 children. I got burned from the sun, but Donna turned into a lobster. On the last 2 days, some of the village children came to play as well. Then we traveled to the northern part of Guatemala to visit a couple who are starting a new children’s home. They are starting this home based on faith alone and host teams to come and help. Drew and Cindy led a teaching time for their staff and I shared my testimony with them. We just returned home, safely.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. If you ever want to contact me, you can either call me on whatsapp or Skype me on the weekends.